Foundation garment



Aug. 27,1957 M. M. DOYLE FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed July 16, 1956 United States Patent FOUNDATION GARMENT Mary Margaret Doyle, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The H. W. Gossard Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application July 16, 1956, Serial No. 598,007

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-37) This invention relates to foundation garments for women, and it has for its object to provide an improved light-weight garment of this type which is adapted to mold and support the figure and provide a smooth foundation for outer garments while affording perfect comfort and freedom of movement to the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide an exceptionally strong figure-molding foundation garment which combines maximum figure control with minimum weight and bulk, and avoids the use of special stiffening panels, bones and the like such as are frequently employed in garments of this type.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

The invention is applicable to various types of foundation garments which are adapted to confine, mold and support the body, such as girdles, corsets, combination corsets and brassieres, and pantie girdles, either of the slip-on type or employing suitable fastenings.

Up to now, such garments have employed various combinations of stiffening panels and busks, lacings, extra heavy elastic fabrics, etc., whenever maximum control of the abdomen, hips and other parts of the body was required. Such factors have necessarily increased the weight, bulk and restrictive effect of the garments, frequently to the discomfort of the wearer.

The present invention provides a figure molding foundation garment which not only avoids the use of bulky restrictive elements of the type mentioned above, but also afiords more positive control with greater comfort and freedom of movement to the wearer, and furthermore materially reduces the overall cost of manufacture.

The garment shown herein for the purpose of illustrating the invention is a slip-on girdle which is adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly to a point below the hips. It comprises front and back sections which are preferably composed of two-way stretch elastic fabric joined together by vertical side seams, so that, as viewed from the outside, the garment presents a pleasing one-piece appearance and gives the figure a smooth non-bulging line which affords a proper founda tion for outer garments.

To the inside of the front section of the garment there are stitched two elongated arrow-shaped lining bands of one-Way longitudinally stretchable elastic fabric, each of which actually consists of a pair of converging strips of elastic fabrics meeting in an apex like an arrow. One of these arrow-shaped bands has its apex at the top center of the front section and its divergent arms extending downwardly and terminating at the respective side seams of the garment, to which they are stitched. The other of said arrow-shaped bands has its apex adjacent the vertical and horizontal center of the front section and its divergent arms extending upwardly to the top of the garment and terminating at the respective side seams, to which they are stitched. These one-way stretch lining bands cooperate with the two-way stretch body portion of the garment to lift the abdomen and control the hips and thighs,

and the overlapping portions of said bands, being stitched together and thus being non-stretchable where overlapped in the region of the abdomen, exert an additional flattening effect on the uplifted abdomen, all as hereinafter more fully described.

To the inside of the back section of the garment there is stitched an elongated arrow-shaped lining band of oneway longitudinally stretchable elastic fabric, likewise consisting of a pair of converging strips of elastic fabric meeting in an apex like an arrow. This arrow-shaped band has its apex at the center of the back section adjacent the bottom thereof, and its divergent arms extending upwardly and terminating at the respective side seams to which they are stitched adjacent the top of the garment. The one-way longitudinally stretchable arms of this lining band provide flattening reinforcements over the fullness of the buttocks and have a very definite flattening effect on the entire buttocks, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The invention is described more in detail in connection with a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a girdle-type foundatiion garment embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of said garment;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the inside of the front section of the garment;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing the inside of the back section; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

The garment shown in the drawing for purposes of illustration is a form fitting slip-on girdle comprising a front section 1 and a back section 2 preferably composed of light, strong two-way stretch elastic fabric stitched together by vertical side seams 3 and 4, and having narrow horizontally stretchable elastic fabric edge bands 5 and 6 stitched to the top and bottom edges, respectively. Garter straps 7 may be stitched to the bottom edge 6, as illustrated.

To the inside of front section 1 there are stitched two elongated arrow-shaped bands preferably of one-way longitudinally stretchable elastic fabric A and B having their apexes in vertical alignment, but pointed in opposite directions, in the center of said front section.

The arrow-shaped band A consists of a pair of con verging broad strips of elastic fabric 8 and. 9 meeting at an apex like an arrow at the centerof front section 1 well below the top of the garment and secured thereto by vertical stitches 10, while the upwardly extending divergent arms 8 and 9 of said arrow are secured to said section 1 by longitudinal rows of stitches 12 and 13 and terminate at the respective vertical side scams 3 and 4 which secure them to the garment directly below the top edge band 5, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

The arrow-shaped band B consists of a pair of converging broad strips of elastic fabric 15 and 16 meeting at an apex like an arrow at the center of front section 1 immediately above the apex of the arrow-shaped band A and directly below the top waist band 5, and secured to said front section 1 by an upward continuation of the vertical stitches Ill. The downwardly extending divergent arms 15 and 16 of this arrow are secured to said section 1 by longitudinal rows of stitches 17 and 18 which also stitch said arms to the underlying arms 8 and 9 of the arrow-shaped band A where same intersect and overlap as illustrated in Fig. 2. The outer ends of said arms 15 and 16 of arrow-shaped band B terminate at the respective side scams 3 and 4 which secure them to the garment well below the hip line in the region overlying the thighs.

Since the strips 8 and 9 constituting the arrow-shaped band A are preferably composed of one-way longitudinally stretchable elastic fabric, asare also the strips 15 and 16 co stitut n the arrow-shap d ban B, e p i ns o front section 1 of the garment directly overlying any one of these strips will, in effect, be inelastic in a direction transverse tosaid strip. Furthermore, the portions of said front section 1 where the arrow-shaped bands A and B overlap t'o fortm three-ply fabric areas in the region of the abdomen (Figs. 1, 3 and 5) will be non-stretchable. The two-way stretch front and back sections 1 and 2 fit the garment snugly on the figure, and, when the garment is in wear, the arrow-shaped band Apulls upward, lifting the abdomen, while the band B exerts an upward and downward pull from the center seam at the top to the lower side seams at the thighs providing thigh control, while the tension of said bands on the overlapped nonstretohable fabric areasove'r the abdomen exert an additional flattening effect on the abdomen.

'Referring'td Figs. 2 and 4, to the inside of the twoway stretchback section2 of the garment there is stitched an elongated arrow-shaped band preferably of one-way longitudinally stretchable elastic fabric 6. This band C consists of a pair of converging broad strips of elastic fabric 20 and 21 meeting at an apex like an arrow at thecenter of back section 2 immediately above the bottom edge band 6 and secured to said back section by vertical stitches 22, while the upwardly extending divergent arms 20and '21 of said arrow are secured to said section 2 by longitudinal rows of stitches 23 and 24 and terminate at the respective side seams 4 and 3 to which they are stitched adjacent the top of the garment immediately below the top waist band 5 in an end-to-end juncture with the ends of the arms 9 and 8 of arrow A (Figs. 1 and 2). The strips of longitudinally stretchable elastic fabric 20 and 21 constituting the arms of the arrow-shaped band C exert a strong up and down pull over the curvature of the buttocks and exert a marked flattening and confining effect on this entire region. V

Thus, the elastic tension of the arrow-shaped band C- of back section 2 not only cooperates with the elastic fabric of said' back section to confine and flatten the figure at the back, but also, by the juncture of its ends with the ends of the arrow-shaped band A of front section 1 (which in turn intersects and iunites with the arrow-shaped band B of said front section to confine and flatten the abdomen, hips and thighs as explained above) unites with forces acting on the front section ina novel symmetry of action whichenables the garment to support and mold the figure throughout while permitting freedom of action and afr'ording perfect comfort to the wearer in any position of the. body.

'While a specific example has been shown and described herein" for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of various modific t ons an adaptat n wit t e scope o the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A form-fitting figure molding foundation garment for women comprising front and back sections composed of two-way stretch elastic fabric adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly below the hips, a pair of arrow-shaped bands secured to said front section, each composed of two convergent strips of elastic fabric each stretchable in a longitudinal direction only and meeting in an apex like an arrow, one of said arrowshaped bands having its apex adjacent the center of said front section below'the top thereof and having its divergent arms extending upwardly and secured at their ends to the respective sides of the garment adjacent the top thereof, the other of said arrow-shaped bands having its apex adjacent the top of said front section above the apex of said first band and having its divergent arms extending downwardly across the arms of said first band and secured at their ends to the respective sides of the garment below the hip line and in the region adapted to overlie the thighs,

said bands. being connected alongsubstantially all of their edges to said front section.

2. A foundation garment according to claim 1, characterized by the provision of an arrow-shaped band which is secured to the back section of the garment and is composed of two convergent strips of elastic fabric stretchable in a longitudinal direction only and meeting in an apex like an arrow, said last-mentioned band having its apex at the center of said back section and having its divergent arms extending upwardly and secured at their ends to the respective sides of the garment adjacent the top thereof.

3. A foundation garment according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that the ends of the divergent arms of the arrow-shaped band on said back section are secured to the respective sides of the garment in juncture with the ends of the upwardly extending divergent arms of the first-mentioned arrow-shaped band on said front section.

' 4. A foundation garment according to claim 3, in which the front and back sections are connected together by vertical side seams, and in which the outer ends of allof the arms of all the arrow-shaped bands are secured by the respective side seams of the garment.

R f enc s C ted n he fi o th p te t UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,069,014 Molyneux-Seel Jan. 26,, 1937 5 ,658 C nn s 0 19,53

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,106,002 lirance June 9, 1954 

